Production of polyhaloalkanes



Patented Nov. 10, 1953 N'oIDrawlng: Application.Marcli z2ll9fi9li. Serial-iNo. 82:90?

S'jCIaims. 1. This inventionrel-atesto; a-.-.process-. forr. produceing apolyhaloalkanecontaining at-least.-two1.car-

bon atoms per. molecule and more-.particu1arly --.-to.

the production of polychloroalkanes and: poly. bromoalkanes;

An obj ectof thisrinvention istoprodueea .pol=y= haloalkane having at least two. carbonatomsper: molecule.

Another object of .this invention is. to produce a polychloroalkane having; at. least. two: carbon-,.

atomsper molecule.-

A further. obj ect. of :this invention.isrtoaproduce a polybromoallcane :having atflleast. two-carbon.

atoms per. molecule.

One specifiaembodiment-of this invention relatestot-a. process for prodiicinga .polyhaloalkane. which. comprises reacting...acmonoolefinic ..hydro.-.- carbon .andl a. carldontetriahalideeinfithe presence on iron,. water, ,.andta gas.containingnncombined; oxygen.

Another embodiment. of.'this invention relates. to a process. for. producing a polychloroalkane. which comprisesreactir'ig. a monoolefinic hydrocarbon .and. carbon .tetrachlorid.in the. presence of iron, water, anda gas containinguncombined oxygen. V

A further.embodiinent'ofi'thisinvention relates to a process. .for prodiicingf. a polybromoalkane: which comprises reacting a monoole'firii'c hydro; carbon andcarbon tetrabromide in the presence of iron, water, and'a gas containing juncombined oxy en.

A' stilli further. embodiment of i this invention relatesto a process ior producing apolychloro alkane whicheomprises' reactingLa monoolfi'ri andcarbon tetrachloride inthe presence of'iron,. water, and .air.

1. have foundthat acarb'onttiahalidas carbon tetrabromid and" carbon. tetrachloride is.

very stable when storedlby itselffbut'in the .presence of iron, water and 'air it is unstableiand; becomescolored rimming. hexachloroethanet It is prob'ablethat'the hexachloroethane is formed by theiunionofstwo trichloromethyl -freeradicals and Ta. carbon :tetrahalide.reactiimthe presencezofi iron-,. Waterandia .gas .containingafree oxygenctoz;

form:- a condensation produetxofi the olefin". and.

carbon. tetrahalide accordingmtothe equation :7

Polyhaloalkanes and particularly polychloro- 65 radicals as indicated by the foregoing alkan'e's iormed by this processare-useful as in: termediates "in tli'eprodi1ction=- of other organiccompoundssuch asdong chain chlorine contain ing== aliphaticcarboxylic acids which may be formed b'y hydrolysis of long 'ch'ain tetracialcaro alkanes having three carbon atoms bound to a-- terminal carbon atom 4 of said aliph'ati-e chain.

Thus th'e" group ist hydrolyzable rto s a .-C0.0H gnou-pa Olefinic. hydrocarbons which arealso :used as 'startin materials.- in. this .process ,include both normally gaseous; and..normal.ly, liquidnnonoolfini-c -hyolrocarbons,asuch as.etl:1ylene,-- propylene, butylenes pentenes; .and .normally. -1iquid;.monoolefins. of;- higher moleculan weights, than pen- It is sometimes .preferred to employ-thenon mally, liquid monoolefinsas reactantseinthis.

condensation. process .which is preferably carried. out in. liquidphase.

The carbon .tetrahalidesawhich are. condensedwithsolfiiiic hydrocarbons, as herein.v set forth, comprise .carbonftetrachloride and'LcarJo'on.tetra-.

bromide.as.-.well 1as.:carbomtetrahalids in which! thecarb'on .atom .is'rbounftoabothl chlorine and 3 bromineatoms;

Ihcarrying out this process, a monoolefinichydrocarbon. and. a. carbon .tetrahalide' inwliich'f. the

carbon" atom is chemically,combinedlwith; at least one member, of theigroup consisting,.of"ch1orine 35' and j bromine. are charged. to a suitable .reactor,

40-isstl 1enw=rotated or. agitated otherwise to effect;-

intimate contact of .the componentscof the reaction mixture, .whiler-itismaintainedeta-tempera? turecofifromabout o toiabout 100 C for a=time sufii'ient to effect reaction .ofa' substantialpro.-.

45 portion...of;, tlie .olefihi. hydrocarbo and,Gammonv I havewfound also that ani'olefi'nic hydrocarbon;

tetrahalide. Bart ofsthercarbonitetrahalide reacts. withf the. olefinic. hydrocarbonrto formaa...

action"by-"Which"two halogen'atomsare removed. from-two molecular "proportions of thecarbon tetrahalide and hexahaloetha-ne'is formed pre* sumably by the union of two trihalomethyl free equation.

The process may also be carried out in the absence of an olefinic hydrocarbon, in which case the carbon tetrahalide reacts to form a hexahaloethane. Thus carbon tetrachloride and carbon tetrabromide yield hexachloroethane and hexabromoethane.

This process is carried out in the presence of air, oxygen, or a mixture of oxygen and a substantially inert gas. The iron which is employed as one of the components of the reaction mixture may be in the form of rods, strips, thin sheets, turnings, filings, etc., but in general it is more active in the more finely divided condition, particularly as filings and turnings.

The process may be carried out by using either batch or continuous types of treatment. In a batch-type operation, the olefinic hydrocarbon and carbon tetrahalide may be commingled and placed in a reactor constructed from glass, porcelain, steel or copper and the like, to which iron, in the form of strips, turnings, etc., water and a gas containing free oxygen are also introduced and kept therein while the reaction mixture is maintained at a temperature of from about C. to about 100 C. The reactor used in the process is also preferably provided with a suitable mixing device for effecting intimate contact of the reacting olefinic hydrocarbons and carbon tetrahalide with the iron, water, and oxygen containing gas, also present in the reaction system.

This process for producing polyhaloalkanes may also be carried out in a continuous manner by passing the monoolefinic hydrocarbon, carbon tetrahalide, steam or water vapor and a gas containing free oxygen through a suitable reactor containing iron packing material and maintained at a temperature preferably above C. and at generally from about to about 75 C.

The reaction mixture obtained from either the batch or continuous types of operation is then subjected to suitable separating treatment to recover the desired tetrahaloalkane and small amounts of hexahaloethane and to separate and return to the process the unconverted carbon tetrahalide and monoolefinic hydrocarbon that may be present in the reaction products. Unconverted reactants so recovered from the process may then be returned to further treatment in the presence of the iron, water, and oxygen containing gas, such as air, which was charged to the process.

The following examples illustrate the results obtained in the operation of this process but the data given should not be construed to limit unduly the generally broad scope of the invention.

Example I Carbon tetrachloride (500 g.), octene-l (56 g.) six iron strips (1 x 12 x 150 mm.) and water (20 cc.) were stored at 38 C. in a 500 cc. bottle vented to the air through a capillary. After 22 days the water and iron were separated and the organic material distilled. After removing excess carbon tetrachloride and octene at atmospheric pressure, the distillation was completed at a pressure of 17 mm. of mercury giving about 10 g. of product boiling at l3'I-140 0/17 mm. having n =1.4'166. The reaction between carbon tetrachloride and octene-l was repeated giving a yield of about 18-20% of the tetrachlorononane based upon the octene-l used.

Example II A run similar to that referred to in Example I but without an olefin was carried out at 38 C. during a time of 30 days. The organic material was then separated from the iron and water and the organic material was distilled to remove carbon tetrachloride leaving a residue of about 5% of hexachloroethane which yielded white crystals melting at 186 C.

I claim as my invention:

1. A process which comprises reacting a monoolefinic hydrocarbon and a carbon tetrahalide in the presence of finely divided iron, water, and a gas-containing uncombined oxygen at a temperature from about 0 to about C. to form a polyhaloalkane of higher molecular weight than said carbon tetrahalide.

2. A process which comprises reacting a monoolefinic hydrocarbon and carbon tetrachloride in the presence of finely divided iron, water, and a gas containing uncombined oxygen at a temperature from about 0 to about 100 C. to form a polychloroalkane of higher molecular weight than said carbon tetrachloride.

3. A process which comprises reacting a monoolefinic hydrocarbon and a carbon tetrahalide in the presence of finely divided iron, water and air at a temperature of from about 0 to about 100 C. to form a polyhaloalkane of higher molecular weight than said carbon tetrahalide.

4. A process which comprises reacting a monoolefinic hydrocarbon and carbon tetrachloride in the presence of finely divided iron, water, and air at a temperature of from about 0" to about 100 C. to form a polychloroalkane of higher molecular weight than said carbon tetrachloride.

5. A process which comprises reacting a monoolefinic hydrocarbon and carbon tetrabromide in the presence of finely divided iron, water, and air at a temperature of from about 0 to about 100 C. to form a polybromoalkane of higher molecular weight than said carbon tetrabromide.

6. A process which comprises reacting a normally gaseous monoolefin and carbon tetrachloride in the presence of finely divided iron, Water, and air at a temperature of from about 0 to about 100 C. to form a polychloroalkane of higher molecular weight than said carbon tetrachloride.

7. A process which comprises reacting a normally liquid monoolefin and carbon tetrachloride in the presence of finely divided iron, Water, and air at a temperature of from about 0 to about 100 C. to form a polychloroalkane of higher molecular weight than said carbon tetrachloride.

8. A process which comprises reacting octene-l and carbon tetrachloride in the presence of finely divided iron, water, and air at a temperature of from about 0 to about 100 C. to form a tetrachlorononane.

RALPH B. THOMPSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,097,145 Snelling May 19, 1914 2,002,168 Bralliet May 21, 1935 2,104,703 Coleman et a1. Jan. 4, 1938 2,440,800 Hanford et al May 1, 1948 2,468,208 Kharasch Apr. 26, 1949 2,519,691 Neuworth Aug. 22, 1950 

1. A PROCESS WHICH COMPRISES REACTING A MONOOLEFINIC HYDROCARBON AND A CARBON TETRAHALIDE IN THE PRESENCE OF FINELY DIVIDED IRON, WATER, AND A GAS-CONTAINING UNCOMBINED OXYGEN AT A TEMPERATURE FROM ABOUT 0* TO ABOUT 100* C. TO FORM A POLYHALOALKANE OF HIGHER MOLECULAR WEIGHT THAN SAID CARBON TETRAHALIDE. 